Design of a V-band overmoded traveling-wave tube

We present the design and analysis of the beam-wave interaction system of a V-band traveling-wave tube (TWT). The TWT employs an overmoded single-staggered ladder type of circuit to demonstrate the feasibility of stable operation in higher order mode (TM311) with three electron beams while reducing thermal loading due to Ohmic and beam interception. The dispersion and gain bandwidth characteristics are investigated using Ansys HFSS electromagnetics code. A Pierce-type linear analysis and particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations using Computer Simulation Technology - Particle Studio (CST-PS) are used to study the beam wave interaction. The circuit has achieved > 30 dB gain with a two-stage circuit separated by a sever with a total beam current of 45 mA at 9.8 kV nominal voltage.